I was unable to get Armbian_community_24.11.0-trunk.66_Aml-s9xx-box_bookworm_current_6.6.47_minimal to boot on my TV-Box (X96Max+ 100 vA 4GBRAM). I tried using the meson-sm1-x96-air.dtb because this is the model I use for Coreelec. This did not boot at all, the system just boots to Android (Slimbox).
I also tried this image “Devmfc_Debian-Bookworm_6.6.49-meson64_Minimal-24.09.05.img” from this project: https://github.com/devmfc/debian-on-amlogic This image at least tried to boot. I got a blue screen and a stuck boot loop.
Back to Armbian, I tried copying the Devmfc file “meson-sm1-x96aira100.dtb” from the into the Armbian boot folder and configured “extlinux/extlinux.conf “ to look for the correct dtb. I renamed “u-boot-s905x3” to “u-boot.ext”. This did not boot, either.
I copied the contents of the entire boot folder from devmfc Debian Bookworm (v12) with Linux kernel 6.6.49 to the boot folder of Armbian Linux v6.6, overwriting "aml_autoscript", "emmc_autoscript", and "s905_autoscript". I edited “boot.config” to use “box=x96aira100” and set the variable “rd_img=uInitrd”. This boots into Armbian successfully enough that I get a command prompt on the HDMI monitor, and I get an IP address on the Ethernet port. After logging in by ssh and creating an Arbian account, I did uname to check the kernel version: “root@aml-s9xx-box:~# uname -a
Linux aml-s9xx-box 6.6.49-meson64 #19 SMP PREEMPT Thu Sep 5 00:58:55 CEST 2024 aarch64 GNU/Linux”
Of course I can’t update anything without breaking the system, and this kernel is lacking a lot of features I would like to use on a desktop system. I could use some help trying to figure out a good way to get Armbian going on here. I have the buildroot set up, and can compile my own image, but I'm not very familiar with how to patch it or to build a different dtb.
